Back and Forth
by Laura x Tennant
Summary: Set some time after Doomsday. A different take on the reunion fic. Excerpt: She was gone, and it was impossible to get her back, therefore whatever it was rummaging through the fridge in front of him, taking out ingredients and preparing some sort of meal, most definitely, completely, assuredly was not her.
1. Chapter 1

_**Back and Forth**_

The Doctor nearly passed out in shock when he saw it. Her. No, it. It had to be an it, for it couldn't be real. She couldn't – it wasn't –

She was gone, and it was impossible to get her back, therefore whatever it was rummaging through the fridge in front of him, taking out ingredients and preparing some sort of meal, most definitely, completely, assuredly was not _her. _An hallucination, maybe, or an imposter taking her shape to fool him – or some sort of apparition conjured up by the TARDIS for some ghostly company, even (his ship had always been strangely attached to her) but it was absolutely unfeasible to reason it was the real her.

Also, she hadn't even known how to work this oven properly last time she was aboard. She'd tried, of course; every meal she'd ever cooked for them (the number of which could be counted on one solitary fighting hand – a hand that, incidentally, had not held hers for quite some time; but that was neither here nor there) had ended up a smouldering wreck. No, wait; he told a lie – she had once made some very nice bacon and egg sandwiches one morning. But that, and cereal – and maybe toast, if he hadn't fiddled with the toaster that week – were her limit vis-a-vis her culinary skills. So. If ever there were proof that this likeness of Rose Tyler (currently standing in his kitchen cooking something on the hob) was just that – a likeness, and nothing more – then that was it.

He cleared his throat, and saw her – _it – _jump a little at the sound. She – no, _it – _span around and regarded him with wide eyes and a sheepish smile.

"Hello, Doctor," the completely-not-Rose welcomed warmly.

He staggered back a little, grabbing hold of a chair by the table to keep himself upright. She – oh blimey, _it! – _even sounded like her. "Whoever or whatever you are, I need you to stop this. Right. Now."

Couldn't-Possibly-Be-Rose frowned at him in that half-amused, half-frustrated way that Rose had perfected all that time ago. "What, cooking? But I'm starving! Anyway, I'm cooking enough for you, too. And I'll stick the rest in a tub for Donna and Martha if they want some to heat up for dinner tomorrow; I expect there asleep right now, right? It being two-thirty in the morning and everything."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I didn't mean the cooking!" he exclaimed, his eyebrows shooting up his forehead. "Stop talking like her and looking like her and – and – just _stop, _alright, because I can't - " he broke off, his eyes darting around the room wildly. "What are you and why are you here?"

"Oh," not-really-Rose realised. "You think I'm not really me." She coughed awkwardly. "Here I was thinking the TARDIS had already explained this to you."

"What?" he replied exasperatedly.

"Hold on a sec; I'm nearly done." She turned back to the simmering food and turned off the hob. She dished up some rice and chilli onto a couple of plates and brought them over to the table, before sitting down and taking a sip of the tea she'd made earlier.

The Doctor just stared. Whatever it was that was taking Rose's form didn't appear menacing in its intent – then again, it wouldn't, would it? It was trying to gain his trust. Trying to trick him, lull him into a false sense of security. Playing on his weakness. What it evidently didn't realise was that as much as the mere mention of Rose Tyler made him ache with pain and regret, it also strengthened his resolve to unimaginable heights.

"Here you go," she gestured to the other plate. He didn't acknowledge her offer.

"What are you doing here and what do you want?" he reiterated.

She chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, I'm here to see you. And I want to see you."

"But what are you?"

"It's me, Doctor. Honestly. It's really me."

"You expect me to believe that you just randomly appeared in my TARDIS after all this time being trapped in an unreachable parallel dimension?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Pretty much, yeah," she nodded.

"You're mad."

"Nope – well, maybe a little. But only enough to complement _your _madness quite nicely." She paused, and met his gaze steadily. "First word you ever said to me was 'run.' We had chips on our first date. We built sandcastles with the Allekopians, we won ten thousand dollars in 1999 Las Vegas, we sailed across the Atlantic with a crew of prize-winning sailors from the year 2145; we travelled back and forth in time and space. We shared a bottle of wine beneath the Orengo Willow Tree of Sagnito in the constellation of Jeremiah-Two, and you juggled nectarines in front of the Queen of Gaiaii XI - "

"Enough, stop!" the Doctor interrupted hastily, his breathing laboured. "Stop, this isn't – I can't - "

Her expression softened. "We wrote a poem with Robbie Burns, met ghosts with Charles Dickens, and went to see the Beatles in concert seven times," she continued gently. He felt his throat grow tight and couldn't seem to stop her any longer, so he just watched her instead, listening and aching and oh god, _wishing _so very much that she was real. "We walked along the Wall of China and helped build its replica on New New New Earth. In 15-something-or-other I got propositioned by Henry the Eighth and you got jealous. Shortly after, we had a picnic on Terrafinos under a sky of amethyst. You made a perfect sculpture of me before I even knew you'd been looking. You hold the burdens of the universe on your shoulders, wear boxer-briefs under those trousers, and dribble in your sleep."

"_Rose,_" he murmured hoarsely. "But you can't – you can't _be _here, I've tried, it's - it can't happen!"

"This is gonna be difficult to explain. And it also might hurt a bit, because, like with everything, there's a catch. But you have to bear with me, alright? Because you need to understand exactly what's happening. The first thing you need to trust me on is the fact that I'm real, yeah? I'm here and I'm real. And I'm also hungry, so sorry but I've seriously got to eat some more of this..." she trailed off, having another mouthful of her food.

He inched the chair he was gripping back slowly. "I don't understand. You look real. You sound real. You keep doing things that only real people can do..." He gingerly sat down opposite her, following her every move with his eyes.

"I am real," she retorted, shovelling a forkful of chilli con carne into her mouth. "And this is delicious, by the way - you should have some."

He frowned at her. "You can't cook."

"Couldn't," she corrected. "I learned."

"You hate cooking."

"I do, that's right," she smiled. "But I was on my own. Had to cook, otherwise I'd not eat. I was terrible at first, of course, kept burning everything. Anyway, I got quite good, after a while."

"Hmph," he muttered, folding his arms like a petulant little boy.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh, you can't seriously be telling me that you missed the fact that I couldn't cook?"

"It was something we had in common," he grumbled. "Although, I have learnt to do quite a good omelette recently."

She laughed and ate some more of her dinner. He continued watching her quietly.

"You're a ghost," he surmised, after a few minutes of companionable silence.

"Nope," she replied. "Can't be; not dead."

"But you're haunting me," he retorted, gesturing her up and down.

"I'm not _haunting _you," she laughed. Then she abruptly stopped laughing and pointed her fork at him. "Wait. Don't you want me here?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to go? 'Cos if that's what you want, I'll - "

"No!" he exclaimed quickly, his hand shooting across the table to grab hold of her wrist. His eyes widened as he did so. "You feel real," he marvelled. "What the hell is going on, Rose? Is this all in my head?"

She gently eased his grip on her with her free hand, then entwined their fingers tightly. He shivered and she gave him a reassuring smile. "No, it's not in your head."

"Prove it. All that stuff you said – I remember all that. Could've just as easily come from my mind. You're just part of my subconscious - "

"That day on Terrafinos? With the picnic and that black dress I wore?"

He swallowed hard, nodding to show he was following.

"Yeah, I wasn't wearing anything underneath that dress," she told him helpfully.

His eyes widened. "Woah, wait, so when those people interrupted us just before we were about to go for a swim in the sea - "

"I was planning on seeing how you'd react to a bit of skinny-dipping, yeah," she grinned broadly. "Never told you that, after, 'cos I thought you'd laugh at how my seduction plan fell flat."

"Wouldn't've laughed," he assured her. "Just would've asked for you to give it another shot."

"Didn't seem to matter that much after the incident in TARDIS swimming pool a week later," she smirked. "Plus, after that, we had a lovely experience in that lake with the waterfall on that planet with the hard-to-pronounce name. That was quite nice."

He blushed. "Asscolipos? Oh yes. Weeelll..." He cleared his throat and shook those thoughts from his head. "What's going on, Rose?"

She smiled reassuringly. "It's...It's gonna be okay. We can work with this, no probs."

He stared at her, uncomprehending.

"It's sort of complicated," she began, letting out a long breath. He waited patiently for her to continue. "I'm in a kind of...limbo."

"Rose, for once in my life, I'm admitting: I don't get it."

"Okay. Right, so," she restarted, letting go of his hand so that she could grab her fork in one hand and her mug in the other. "So this is me, yeah?" she said, gesturing with the fork. "And this is the TARDIS," she continued, waving the mug at him. Her little bit of remaining tea sloshed out and onto the table with her movements, but neither of them paid it any attention. His eyes were fixed on her and his mouth fell open. "What?" she asked self-consciously.

"Nothing, it's just...I explained something exactly like the way you're doing to someone a little while back."

"Ah yes, the bride – Donna, isn't it?"

"How do you - "

"The TARDIS," she interrupted absently. "She sort of filled me in with everything that's happened on board since I was away." She arched an eyebrow at him.

His eyes widened guiltily. "Wait, she didn't tell you about..."

"Everything, Doctor."

"Oh blimey, well, look, I didn't mean to," he said hurriedly, tugging on his ear.

"Didn't mean to what?"

"It just sort of happened," he continued, wincing.

"_What _just sort of happened?" she retorted, starting to get a bit anxious.

He looked at her as if it should be obvious. "Well, you know, the sleeping in your bed thing."

Rose laughed. "Why are you apologising for _that?" _

"Weeelll, it's a bit...weird, isn't it?"

"Well yeah, but you are weird. I didn't bat an eyelid to that. Not like you never slept in it before." She winked at him.

"Oh. Okay." He smiled a little, relieved. His fingers twitched on the tabletop, yearning to take her hand in his again; but hers were still full. "Right. So! On with your explanation," he prompted.

"Okay, so there I was in Pete's World, minding my own business, well, arranging the co-habitation of a lovely Dresdoka couple who wanted to settle on Earth with their adopted daughter, when – what _now?_"

He was beaming at her proudly. "Nothing, nothing. Carry on."

"Well, there I was, when suddenly I heard her talking to me – the TARDIS. Inside my head. I couldn't believe it. It'd been three years by that point. And though we'd been building this – um, this dimension cannon thing, something that would enable me to come back, we could never use it in practise, well, unless someone tore a hole in the universe first, which they hadn't. So I didn't really think I'd ever be able to come back to you, not without making sacrifices neither of us would be willing to make. So when the TARDIS spoke to me, it was like...well, it was amazing. God, all I could think was that maybe there was hope."

"What did she say?"

"She told me that she was going to bring me back, through her connection to me as Bad Wolf. Only, her capacity to do that is..."

"Is what?"

She cleared her throat. "Limited."


	2. Chapter 2

"I still don't understand," he complained, finding the whole ordeal fascinating but frustratingly difficult to comprehend. She was speaking of impossibilities.

"I can't be here all the time," she explained carefully, gently.

His brow furrowed, a lump coming to his throat. "What?"

"Like I said, usually I am in a sort of limbo. I exist here, on occasion, but I also exist at another point in space and, even, in the other universe, still, at different times."

"This is...completely mad," he muttered. "And I don't like it."

"Well like I said, if you don't want me to be here - "

"Stop it. You know that I – Rose. I want you to be here _all _the time."

She shook her head. "No can do, I'm afraid."

"So what, I just get...spontaneous visits from you?"

"No, no. You get regular visitation time. If we go by my Earth clock," she said, nodding towards her clock that still hung on the kitchen wall. "Glad you kept that, by the way, despite time being relative on the TARDIS and everything. Anyway, if you go by that, I'll be here from around two o'clock to four o'clock every morning."

"Two hours," he murmured, the lump in his throat getting more pronounced. "Two hours a day, that's – that's all we get?"

Rose nodded, trying not to look too sad about it. She needed him to stay cheerful. That was why she was here, after all. "Listen, the TARDIS brought me back to remind you of who you are - "

"Two hours," he repeated, interrupting her, staring at the table. He glanced up at her again. "Any way to extend that?"

"Well," Rose shrugged, aborting her demonstration with the mug-TARDIS and fork-Rose, placing them down on the table. "If you jettison a few thousand rooms she might be able to conserve enough energy to sustain me for another hour."

"I'll jettison all the non-essential rooms if she'll let me; then could we get more than that?" he asked eagerly.

"I don't think so, Doctor," she said softly. "Sorry, but I think...I think three hours is the most she'll be able to manage. But hey, that's better than nothing, yeah?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah." He rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "So when you aren't here..."

"When I'm not here, I'm back in Pete's World."

"But that's impossible."

"And yet, true. Look, it's not a foolproof system – sometimes the TARDIS runs out of power and I end up on this planet called Giop; relatively speaking it's always halfway between Pete's World and the TARDIS, wherever she happens to be. Well, unless she's on Giop, and then it wouldn't be, but that's beside the point because you never land on Giop."

He blinked at her, listening to her ramble and wondering if she'd picked up any of his other habits in their time apart. "Why don't I ever land on Giop?" he asked.

"Because it's perfect, and hidden, and no one lives there. It's like a...paradise. So peaceful. No animated life – there's vegetation, lush vegetation, and the most gorgeous flowers ever, but no animals or people or anything. You've not been needed there, so she's never taken you. Plus, it sort of exists outside of the normal parameters of time – I dunno, it's confusing, I don't really properly get it, but I just take her word for it," Rose tried to explain, glancing up at the ceiling fondly.

"Oh," he murmured. "So, Rose..."

"Yeah?"

"What happens when you're there? How do you know when you'll be pulled back?"

She rolled her eyes. "I have a watch, Doctor. It's synced up to the TARDIS. I know, when I wake up there, that I just have to wait until two and I'll end up back here, until four, when she gives it another go and either gets it right and I wake up in Pete's World, or back on Giop again."

"Isn't it boring on Giop, waiting around?"

"No, it's lovely. I get to have a rest!" she laughed. "You'd be surprised how tiring hopping from place to place every day is."

"You're right, sorry, it must be...exhausting. But I still don't understand how you can physically be shifted back and forth, back and forth; you're real, this is your real body, you're not a replicate or an apparition or an illusion or just a – what's the word? An ethereal...wraith?"

Rose stood up. Panicking, the Doctor glanced at the clock, then sighed in relief; it was only five to three. Still, time was ticking. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

She grinned that grin at him, the one with the tongue, and then unzipped her hoodie.

"Rose?" he squeaked, as she shrugged it off and started unbuttoning her shirt.

"Shh, don't get all weird about it all of a sudden. I'm just proving to you that I'm really here. That this is the very same body that I have in all three locations, the same body that I had when you saw me last."

Her shirt fell to the floor and he gulped. Her hand briefly went to the button on her jeans but then she changed her mind and stepped around the table towards him instead. "Doctor, come here. Stand up."

He did stand, on shaky legs. "Rose," he murmured.

She grabbed his hands and placed them on her waist. "Kiss me. Undress me. Whatever you want. Just let me prove to you this is real."

"I miss you so much," he whispered.

"I know, I miss you too," she smiled warmly. Tears glistened in her eyes but she tried to ignore them. "But I'm right here, now, yeah? I know it's not...it's not enough, I mean, how could two hours a day ever be enough? But it's something. It's better than something, it's a second chance, it's – this is what your ship has done for us, Doctor, to make us happy."

"What the TARDIS _and _you have done," he corrected softly. "Why would you let her do this to you, drag you back and forth across dimensions every day? How can you bear it?"

"Because I love you, stupid," she whispered teasingly, looping her arms around his neck.

His breath caught in his throat. "Yeah?" he croaked roughly.

"Yes."

"Still?"

"Still," she confirmed.

He let out a breathy, disbelieving chuckle and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against hers. "Oh, Rose Tyler," he murmured, bumping his nose against hers playfully. "I never got to say, did I? Ran out of time. I really am stupid."

"You won't run out of time now," she told him confidently. "The TARDIS has shown me things you wouldn't believe...impossible, yet true, things that will make your head spin."

"Hmm? What are you rambling mysteriously about now?" he teased, his lips hovering over hers.

"We have a powerful connection, me and her. Never realised just how powerful, just how deep, the connection went."

"What did she tell you, Rose?" he asked impatiently, wanting to finish their conversation, or at least put it on pause, so that he could kiss her.

"She told me that when I die - "

The Doctor recoiled as though she'd physically hit him. "Don't say that," he hissed.

"Doctor," she intoned calmly. "This is something good I'm about to tell you. Well, I think it's good. Well, I did, eventually, once I'd wrapped my head around the concept. Doctor, when I die, I won't fizzle out of the universe completely. Well, I will in the other one, but not this one. Not whilst the TARDIS is still alive."

"What?"

"I can't die here. Or on Giop. If I die on Pete's World," she tried to explain. "Then I'll die there, yeah, physically, but she'll bring my mind back to you, my...soul, or whatever it is that makes me me apart from my physical identity, and I'll be here. Always. Until the TARDIS dies herself."

He stared at her in utter shock. "You'll...what? Become part of the TARDIS?"

"Sort of. I'll be an apparition or whatever the other things were that you called me earlier. A projection, I guess, of what I look like now, but with a living mind and essence." She grinned. "I'll haunt you eventually. Forever, if that's what you end up wanting. But if, you know, something happens or you get fed up with having an invisible-to-everyone-else friend, well, then I can become part of her completely, and protect you that way. As one with the TARDIS."

The Doctor swallowed hard. "This is all incredibly odd. But if this is true, if that could happen, then don't think for one second that I wouldn't want you here."

"Even if, at that point, you couldn't touch me?"

"Even if I couldn't touch you," he confirmed. "But let's put that off for as long as possible, yeah? The you dying and becoming what is essentially a ghost thing?"

"Of course," she smiled, then finally kissed him.

His slid his arms properly around her, one of his hands gliding up her back, making her spine tingle. After a few moments he broke off the kiss to look over her shoulder as he fiddled with the clasp of her bra. Rose giggled against his shoulder, perfectly content to let him fumble. She'd missed his fumbling.

Her bra finally fell to the floor. He swept his hands up and down her back and ribcage, exploring the body he'd thought he'd never get to touch again. "Can we...?" he murmured, meeting her gaze and nodding towards the kitchen door.

"Yes," she agreed firmly. "Are your friends definitely asleep?"

"I should think so; you humans do sleep half your life away, after all."

"Then it's okay if I walk through the corridor topless?"

"It's very much okay yes," the Doctor chuckled in delight.

"Okay good," she answered, and took his hand, tugging him along after her. "My room or yours?"

"Mine," he whispered. "I can't smell you in there anymore. That's why I, er, accidently started sleeping in your room, you see."

She squeezed his hand reassuringly and they entered his room. "Still exactly the same."

"That's what I found so difficult about living in the TARDIS, after you'd gone. Everything just looked exactly the same. Except...you were missing, and it felt so – so _wrong, _I..._"_

They stood facing one another for a few moments, silent. Then, Rose reached towards him, and began unbuttoning his shirt. "We'll make the most of this time, yeah? This extra time the TARDIS has given us."

"Yes," he whispered. He nodded once, twice. "Yes, we will."


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, Rose," he gasped into her neck. "_Rose."_

"God, I've missed you," she whispered, her hands sliding into his hair.

He clutched the back of her knee and urged her leg higher around his waist. "Rose, are you…" His pace faltered slightly, but he continued to kiss and nibble at her neck as he mumbled, "Close…sorry, it's – I'm going to -"

"Right there with you," she assured him. "Don't you worry. Just…yes…"

"Rose." He slipped his hand between them.

"Yes, yes…oh my god…"

"_Rose."_

"_Doc_tor."

Then, so softly, he whispered, "I love you." A kiss to her temple. "I love you."

He rolled off her and stared up at the ceiling. Turning her head as she caught her breath back, she was startled to see tears running down the side of his face onto the pillow. He pretended not to notice. "Hey," she murmured, wrapping one arm around his chest and sliding her opposite hand into his hair, drawing him against her. He instantly curled into her embrace, burying his head in her neck, his arm flinging over her waist, his leg shifting to rest between hers. She felt his tears wet her skin and bit her lip, stopping herself from crying too. "It's okay, it's alright," she whispered, stroking his hair tenderly. He made no sound, but shivered slightly. "I've got you. I love you."

::

"I wish you didn't have to go," he whispered sometime later, drawing his fingertip up and down her chest.

"I know, me too. But we have our jobs to do, eh? At least this way we won't neglect the universe by staying in bed all day," she joked.

"Oh, if only," he said, sighing wistfully at the thought. "Do you think you're able to step outside the TARDIS? Could you go outside, do you think?"

Rose shrugged a shoulder. "I expect so. Why, think you'll get bored just shagging for two hours every day?" she giggled.

He rolled back onto her with a growl. "Never. But I do miss doing everything with you, not just the sex. Besides," he added, winking at her cheekily. "We did like to be at one with nature now and then."

Rose laughed, sliding her fingers through his hair, glad that he'd cheered up. "Do you remember that time we were doing something...well, very inappropriate, in that forest on – what was it called? Denber?"

"Denbar Seven," he corrected with a grin. "And yes, I remember that very, very vividly. The sloth-people paid us a visit." She continued laughing brightly underneath him, and he watched her with his own beaming grin on his face. "You're so beautiful," he whispered. "I've missed your laugh. That's something else I couldn't get used to, on my own; the quiet. After having you singing and laughing and god knows what else on this ship, it seemed too eerie and silent without you."

"It's not quiet now, though," Rose smiled. "Donna's a match for you, right? And Martha and her, I bet they gang up on you."

"They do, yes," he nodded.

"Are you going to tell them about my nightly visits?" she grinned suggestively, trailing her hand down his chest.

"I'll try to explain, yeah, but I won't, well, I won't specify what we do when they aren't awake," he replied, nudging her legs apart with his knees as he settled there properly again. "Rose, do you fancy having another go before you...go?"

She glanced at the clock. "I wonder what would happen if it struck four just as we were mid-dance?"

"Let's not try it, we could end up very frustrated," he suggested. "Rose?"

"Alright, but we'd best be quick."

"Not a problem," he assured her, giving her a kiss before burying his face in her neck just as he buried himself inside her again. Rose groaned in pleasure and he grabbed hold of her hands, intertwining their fingers and pinning them above her head.

::

"How does it work then?" he asked quietly. "Do you just...fade away?"

"Yeah," she smiled sadly. "Do you want me to go into another room?"

"No, I want to see your face for as long as possible."

"I'll be back tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"What if..."

"Doctor. You're going to see me again tomorrow. Meet you in the kitchen at two?"

"Why the kitchen again?"

"Because travelling across dimensions makes me _really _hungry," she explained.

"Oh, okay," he chuckled. "Yes. It's a date."

"Good. Have a chat with Martha and Donna about it, yeah? Don't want to end up giving them a heart attack if they see me materialise."

"Okay," he promised. "I'll talk to them. Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll miss you."

"I won't be gone long, don't you worry."

He reached out and pulled her into a last minute hug, squeezing her tight. His face buried in her hair, he murmured reverently, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, pressing one last kiss to his lips. She then backed out of his embrace. "See you later," she told him, as she felt herself being pulled away.

"Not if I see you first," he whispered back, his eyes full of tears as she disappeared right in front of him. He leant against the bedpost and sighed heavily, hoping that he would indeed see her again.


	4. Chapter 4

"Donna, Martha – are you busy?"

"Just watching telly – you alright Spaceman?" replied Donna, as she and Martha both looked up to see him enter the media room.

"Yes, yeah," he nodded absently, coming over to sit in his armchair opposite their sofa. "I just have something I need to talk to you about."

"What's up?" queried Martha, reaching for the remote control to pause their film.

He cleared his throat, wondering where to begin. "Okay. Well, this is going to be rather difficult to explain, because I don't truly understand it myself, but I'm going to give it a go, because you both deserve to know."

They waited patiently for him to continue, looking surprised and curious. He tugged on his ear.

"Well. You remember my...friend, Rose. The girl - woman - I mention occasionally?"

Donna snorted. "Occasionally? More like every five minutes."

He frowned. "I do not," he retorted.

"Alright, maybe not every five minutes," conceded Martha. "But at least once a day."

"Really?" he asked, wrinkling his nose up.

"Yep," answered Donna. "Not necessarily by name, though. But we both know who you mean."

"Oh. Right. Well, anyway," he muttered, clearing his throat again. "There's been a...development."

"Regarding Rose?" asked Martha.

"Yes," he nodded.

"You told me she was stuck in a parallel universe," murmured Donna tentatively. "Has she somehow got in touch?"

"Yes. She has. In fact, she – she visited me, last night, whilst you two were sleeping."

"What?"

"You said that was impossible, didn't you? That you couldn't reach her? That you'd never seen her again?"

"Yeah..." he mumbled, drawing out the word suspiciously. He grimaced as he tried to find the words to explain the unique situation.

Donna frowned. "Were you lying?"

"Did you say all that for dramatic effect?" asked Martha. "Was it actually just the case of her dumping you?"

"What? No!" he exclaimed, offended. "No, I didn't lie, and no, she didn't 'dump' me. She's supposed to be stuck there – is currently there, in fact. But the TARDIS has discovered that she has the power to bring Rose back for a couple of hours every day. They have a connection, you see, because once – well, it's a long story, but basically Rose took the heart of the TARDIS, the vortex, into her head to save my life and, well, although I absorbed it from her and fed it back into the TARDIS, they still have this lingering connection. And the TARDIS finally managed to use that connection to pull Rose across the dimensions of time and space so that she can visit me. So that I can see her again."

Donna and Martha blinked at him in shock.

"So, for two hours every day, you get her back?" Donna asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Just two hours?"

He glanced down. "Yeah, just two hours." Then he smiled reassuringly. "Better than no hours at all, though, right?"

"So, when will she be coming today?" asked Martha.

"At two in the morning," he answered. "You can stay up and meet her if you want. Or not. It's...it's up to you."

"I'd like to meet her," replied Donna, and Martha nodded in agreement. "But how is any of this possible?"

"I have no idea," he replied honestly, raising his eyebrows. "But I want it to be real. I just hope that I didn't...well, you know, imagine it happened, last night. Wouldn't be the first time I'd hallucinated our reunion. So I would appreciate it if you'd both be there, in the kitchen, when – if – she materialises later, so that you can verify if she's there. So that I can see if I've actually gone completely and irreversibly barmy or not."

Donna smiled sympathetically. "Okay," she agreed. She shared an anxious glance with Martha. Now that he'd questioned his own sanity, they were secretly questioning his sanity too. "We'll be there."

He let out a long breath. "Thank you."

::

"Ooh, I have an audience," murmured Rose, as she materialised in the TARDIS kitchen.

Donna and Martha gasped in shock. The Doctor beamed joyously in relief. She was real. They saw her, heard her. She was real. He bounced up from his seat and grabbed Rose into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here," he whispered into her hair.

"You thought I wouldn't come?" she tutted, leaning back to look at him properly. "I promised you I would." Then she looked over his shoulder and smiled at Donna and Martha. "Hello. I've heard so much about you both."

Donna's mouth opened then closed then opened again. "You – he – you - " she spluttered.

Martha chuckled in disbelief beside her. "What Donna is trying to say is, he hasn't lost his mind, then, and it's nice to meet you."

"You thought I'd lost my mind?" squeaked the Doctor indignantly, whirling around to face them again. He kept one arm securely around Rose's waist, however.

"_You _thought you'd lost your mind!" exclaimed Donna, regaining her ability to form a coherent sentence. "Of course I did!"

Rose placed her hand over the one at her hip and squeezed it reassuringly. "You're not going crazy, Doctor. Well, not any more than usual. I'm here. I'll be here every day."

Donna watched the two of them looking at each other and sighed happily. "He's missed you so much," she told Rose, prompting Rose to turn to her again. The Doctor scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

Rose grinned at the women and gently extricated herself from the Doctor's grip, sitting down with them at the table. "I'm so pleased that I get to meet you," she told them.

"Likewise," Martha murmured quietly.

The three of them began to talk, sharing memories and playfully teasing the Doctor for his frequently odd habits, and, well, generally getting along like a house on fire. The Doctor watched them, leaning up against the counter, with a smile on his face. But he couldn't disguise the longing in his eyes, something that Donna noticed when she glanced over at him. She realised that although he was happy that they were establishing a fast friendship with Rose, he really wanted to spend the rest of their short time together alone. She subsequently looked at the clock. Then, tactfully, she murmured, "Well, maybe me and Martha ought to get to bed, it's quite late. And you don't have much time together, so..."

Martha picked up from where Donna left off, "Yeah, I'm knackered. It was nice to meet you, Rose. We'll leave you two alone." She smiled, and she and Donna got up to leave. Rose jumped up and surprised them both by giving them each a hug as she murmured her goodbyes to them.

"See you tomorrow?" she gently inquired as they left the room.

"If we're awake," Donna chuckled. "Honestly, it's shame you couldn't pick what time you get brought across." With a laugh and a wave, they were gone, and Rose turned around to face the Doctor.

"It isn't," the Doctor murmured.

"What isn't?"

"A shame. I'm rather glad that it's these hours. Means that I'll probably get you all to myself most times," he smiled.

Rose rolled her eyes affectionately at him and then grinned. "Doctor."

"Yeah?"

"Race you to the swimming pool."


	5. Chapter 5

_Two weeks later_

"You never talk about it," the Doctor whispered into Rose's ear, his arm slung around her waist from behind.

"What's that?"

"What you get up to in Pete's World."

"You never ask," she giggled, then turned over to face him.

"That's because I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you have this whole other life that I'm not part of," he said softly.

"Oh, you're part of it," she disagreed. "You may not physically be there, but everything I do there is more or less in memory of you. The travelling, the aliens, the defending the Earth. The meeting people and trying to do what's right. The spending time with the family that you brought together for me. I'm able to do all that because of you. And I never forget that. I probably think about you...oooh, every other hour of the day?" She flashed him a cheeky grin.

"Only every other hour?" he murmured, eyes widened in mock-outrage.

"Well, I'm a busy woman," she teased, raking her hands through his hair. "Can't go all soppy and write poetry about you all day long."

He waggled his eyebrows at her and tilted his head to kiss her forehead tenderly. "You know, I met Dylan Thomas once. A few months after you...He started reciting poetry about love and loss and I'm ashamed to say that I nearly punched the man in the face. I didn't, obviously. But the thought of doing so is bad enough. Still. He hit a nerve, figuratively speaking."

She smiled sadly. "It's nearly time for me to go again."

"I know," he sighed. They shared a lingering kiss. "Tomorrow, when you get here, I want us to share some stories."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We've been so busy reminiscing and, er, catching up, that I hardly know anything about your job or your brother and everything. I want to know anything that you're happy to share."

"Okay," she grinned, strangely excited by the prospect. "And the same goes for you, yeah?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"I'm looking forward to it," she told him, then sat up and stretched. "Right. I'd better get dressed."

"Mmm," he agreed, stroking his hand down her back gently.

"You're tired. You should get some sleep."

Timely, he let out a wide yawn. "It appears you are correct. As usual."

"Of course," she grinned, getting up and gathering her clothes.

Once she was dressed, she bent down to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Night, Doctor."

"Goodnight," he murmured back, grabbing her hand and squeezing it briefly. "Love you."

She beamed as she faded away.

The Doctor rolled onto his front, buried his nose in her pillow, and fell into a deep sleep filled with dreams of Rose Tyler.

::

The following day passed quickly for the Doctor, as he and his companions got caught up in a fast-paced adventure with some lost Berochhi. After sending them happily in the correct direction, the trio congratulated themselves on their success at averting a worldwide crisis with a few drinks in the kitchen.

Two o'clock in the morning came and went without Martha and Donna realising, but the Doctor noticed; he started to get a bit twitchy when, by two-thirty, she still hadn't arrived.

After he'd glanced at the clock one too many times, Donna caught on. "Oh. Listen, Doctor, don't worry, yeah? She's probably just busy."

"Mmm."

Martha's eyelids had started to droop but she suddenly jerked awake when her mobile rang. "Oh god, it's Mum. I wonder what Dad's done this time," she muttered, then hurried out of the kitchen to take the call.

"I'll keep you company 'til Rose turns up," Donna declared, pouring herself another drink.

He smiled gratefully, aware that his leg was jiggling restlessly. "Thanks, Donna."

"No problem." She paused, then asked, "Seeing as I've got you alone, can I ask you something?"

He eyed her suspiciously; it wasn't like Donna to check before saying something. "Okay…" he replied slowly.

"Are you finding it easier, with her coming back for a couple of hours each night, or is it making it more difficult to be without her the rest of the time?"

The Doctor blinked in surprise. "Easier. By far, Donna." He met her gaze steadily. "You know what I was like, just after. That never really went away, you know. You and Martha being here has helped significantly, of course – you both helped me get back on track and made me laugh again - but I always missed her just as much as I did when I first lost her. So getting her back, even for just a short time each day, it's…" He let out a long breath. "It's better than I could've hoped for, really. I was so convinced I'd never see her again."

Donna nodded, and smiled warmly. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Thank you," he smiled back. Then a thought struck him. "How about you? And Martha? Are you two okay with it?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Why shouldn't we be? We're asleep most of the times she's here anyway, Dumbo. Besides, I like her. She's funny, and she doesn't put up with your bullshit, either, which is always good to see."

"Oi!"

"I think she's good for you," Donna chuckled. "It takes a few shouts from me to get you to shut up or stop being arrogant; she can do it with just a _look!"_

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yes, well. You don't want to get on her bad side," he murmured seriously, then grinned.

Donna laughed. "She's feisty. I'd like to see her defeating some aliens and saving the world – I'll bet that's a riot!"

"I'd like to see the three of you teaming up! Rassilon, what creature would stand a chance against that?"

"You're probably right," Donna grinned proudly. "You'd better watch it, or you could have a mutiny on your hands."

"And I expect that the TARDIS would take your side too. She always did when Rose was angry with me."

"Don't know how you'd cope if all four of your girls ganged up on you at once," giggled Rose, as she shimmered into place by the sink.

The Doctor jumped in surprise at the sound of her voice. "Rose!"

Donna smiled. "He was getting worried you weren't gonna show."

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. Got caught up with the Silurians. Awkward business, but we came to some agreement."

The Doctor and Rose stared at each other for a moment, simply smiling.

Donna snorted at their mutual gaze of adoration. "I'll say goodnight," she announced, standing up.

"Night Donna," the Doctor and Rose chorused.

As she left the kitchen, Donna glanced over her shoulder and promptly pulled a face when she witnessed them kissing. Honestly. She dreaded to think what they got up to in that room.


	6. Chapter 6

_Three Months Later_

"Hi, Rose," Donna smiled, as she appeared in the kitchen.

"Hiya," Rose grinned back, diving for the fridge. "God, I'm starving," she muttered, looking through it for something she fancied eating. "Oh," she murmured, speechless and rather touched when she realised that the Doctor had put a box in there with her name on it. She opened it up and discovered her favourite snacks inside, along with a sandwich.

She looked up as she bit into it, and saw Donna watching her in amusement. "Sorry," Rose mumbled. "It's just for some reason the travelling across the universes thing really makes me hungry."

"Oh don't worry about that," Donna shrugged, taking a sip of her tea and grabbing a biscuit. "I'm just wondering why you haven't asked where he is yet."

Rose frowned, and glanced around the kitchen. "Oh yeah. Where is he?" Then she quickly added, "And don't tell him I momentarily forgot to see if he was in the room. He'll only sulk."

Donna laughed and assured her she wouldn't tell. Then she explained, "He said he'd be running late, and that he's sorry. Well, actually he said, over the phone to me: 'Tell her I'm really, really, really sorry and that I'll be there as soon as I can and that I haven't abandoned her I just need to see the President - wait that sounds wrong, um, assure her that I'm not choosing him over her it's just really rather urgent and then tell her that I miss her and - and then tell her that I love her and can't wait to see her, okay thanks Donna bye.'" She smirked as Rose raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, he's a bit..."

"Daft," Rose laughed.

"Exactly."

They both rolled their eyes at the same time and then broke into a hysterical laughing fit when they realised. Gathering her food up, still laughing, Rose went over to the table and gestured for Donna to join her. "Feel free to help yourself to this little picnic he's made," Rose giggled. "Honestly, the amount of times he went on at me about how he doesn't do domestic..."

"Yeah, he's so in denial. I mean, I caught him looking at rings yesterday!" Donna blurted out, then slapped her hand over her mouth. "Shit, wasn't supposed to mention that."

Rose's eyes went wide and her sandwich fell from her hands. "What?"

Donna shifted awkwardly in her seat, looking mortified that she'd let that slip. Then, looking at Rose's expectant face, and knowing that she was as stubborn as herself when it came to waiting for someone to spill a secret, Donna sighed, resigning herself to telling her the story. "We were on Earth yesterday. London. Martha and me wanted to go shopping, and I emotionally blackmailed him into taking us by reminding him that I walked in on you and him...well...and I told him that he owed me because I can't bleach the sight of his bum out of my head."

Rose started laughing again, but blushed in embarrassment at the reminder of what Donna had walked in on in the library the other day.

"Anyways, he went off on his own when we got to Oxford Street, and then later, when Martha was in a queue in Topshop, I went to stand outside 'cos it was so busy and hot in there, and there he was, staring into the window of a jeweller's. I went up to him and made him jump, and he blushed crimson and tried to distract me. It didn't work."

Rose pondered over what Donna had told her. "Maybe he was just looking at necklaces or bracelets or something, for one of our birthdays? Could've been your Christmas present that he was trying to distract you from spotting."

"No, no, it was definitely the rings section of the display. And let's face it, if he was staring at the engagement rings, then there's only one woman _that_ particular present could be for, and it most definitely isn't me!" Donna said wisely.

"Blimey," Rose replied, and opened a packet of jelly babies. Plopping one in her mouth, she noticed Donna eying her suspiciously. "What?"

"Well, is that all you're going to say?" Donna asked, baffled by Rose's reaction. "'Blimey?' Nothing else?"

Rose shrugged, chewing thoughtfully.

"So if he produces a ring come Christmas time, you're going to say what?" Donna pressed.

Rose shrugged again, then told her, "The Doctor doesn't do marriage, not really. He wouldn't want an actual, proper wedding. If he wants to give me a ring, it's probably only 'cos he thinks I want him to show some sort of human-like commitment to me or something. Which is daft, 'cos I don't need that. But if he gives it to me, I'll wear it."

"So you don't think he's actually going to do the whole shebang?"

"What, get down on bended knee?" Rose scoffed. "Course he won't. He's not all that great with romantic gestures. And I really don't mind," she assured Donna.

"But don't you want a wedding out of it?"

Rose laughed. "Believe it or not we've actually already had one. Well, several. Not that we acknowledged that they meant anything – we just used to get into weird situations sometimes where we either accidentally got married according to local customs without realising it, or had to, you know, marry or..." Rose drew her hand across her neck.

"Marry or die?" Donna exclaimed.

Rose blushed a bit. "Well, maybe once or twice we didn't realise that unmarried couples would be punished by death on certain planets if they did...certain things."

"All right, say no more," Donna insisted, shuddering. "So has he ever referred to you as his wife?"

"No, course not," Rose giggled at the thought. "Like I said, we used to pretend it didn't mean anything."

Donna nodded. "Right, right." She paused. "Would you _want _him to refer to you as his wife?"

"I wouldn't have back then, 'cos I was still so young. Now? Well, I don't really care either way to be honest. I'll just go with the flow." She offered Donna a jelly baby, apparently rather unruffled by their conversation.

"You're certainly an unconventional couple," Donna remarked, picking out an orange jelly baby. "Only seeing each other a couple of hours a day and all that."

"Mmhmm," Rose agreed. "Still, I reckon that lessens the chance of a divorce," she joked with a wink.

"It must be hard, though," Donna reasoned, watching Rose carefully. "Knowing that you don't get to have whole days out with him adventuring like me and Martha do?"

Rose swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, it is. But whenever I feel sorry for myself because of it, I then remember that I get to have my family, still, too. I would've never known my little brother if all this hadn't happened."

"Best of both worlds, then?"

"Sort of, yeah," Rose smiled.

Donna's phone started ringing, then, and once she saw it was the Doctor calling she handed it over to Rose without bothering to answer it herself. Rose giggled and answered it. "Hello stranger."

"Rose! Hello! Sorry I'm so late. I won't be much longer, I'm on my way back now. How are you, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, ta. Me and Donna have been chatting. You all right?"

"Marvellous! Just negotiated a peace settlement and thus practically saved two whole civilisations!"

Rose laughed happily, and murmured, "Glad to hear it. You do sound cheerful."

"Oh, I'm on top of the world! Especially now that I'm free to come back to you. I can't wait to see you."

"Good," she grinned. "What do you want to do, when you get back?"

Whatever he replied made Rose blush, so Donna quickly grabbed the phone off of her. "Oi, no talking about _that _while I'm present, thank you. I'm hanging up now."

"Sorry, Donna," she heard him mutter resignedly before she ended the call. She rolled her eyes again.

"Right, I'm gonna make myself scarce. I'll see you soon, Rose. Have a nice time."

"Thanks," Rose giggled. "Nice talking, Donna."

"Yeah," Donna smiled. "It was. Night."

"Goodnight."


End file.
